Thursday, 29 December 2016

5 Toxic Chemicals Hiding In Your Beauty Products

It is no surprise that you have to be extremely vigilant about taking care of your body if you want to maintain your physical health for as long as possible. For most people, that means exercising and eating healthy, organic food.

This means that a surprising amount of people ignore one of the biggest sources of toxins and contaminants in their daily lives: beauty and bath products. You know that your skin is the biggest organ you have. What you put on your skin and what you use to clean it has a direct effect on your body.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AVOIDING TOXINS IN BEAUTY PRODUCTS

Through your skin, just about any chemical can make its way into your body and affect your other organs. For example, think about using essential oils topically. They work by absorbing into your skin and affecting the muscle, bone, or organ underneath your skin.

Many of the dangerous chemicals found in beauty products are extremely effective at barreling into your skin and moving throughout your body. Over time, this can worsen your health. This is especially true for products like body wash, moisturizer, and make up, which most people tend to use every day.

HOW TOXINS GET INTO YOUR PRODUCTS

Once you start to learn how prevalent these chemicals are in your products, you may wonder how they are allowed to be there at all. Unfortunately, manufacturers like to use the cheapest ingredients they can to maximize their profit margins. Government agencies are not quick to outlaw chemicals or require their labeling.

Because of this, many beauty manufacturers can use just about anything they want in their products. To add insult to injury, they can use just about any of these chemicals and still label their product as “natural.” So even if you think you are making a good choice for your skin, you may still be exposing your skin to all sorts of toxins.

COMMON CHEMICALS TO AVOID

The simplest way to eradicate these chemicals from your bathroom cabinet is the same as the one you used to make good dietary choices. Read the label. You’ll start to get a feel for common chemicals and the ones that you should avoid. This information can help you make more informed decisions at the beauty counter.

Sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate: This chemical is most often added to liquid soaps. It is extremely toxic and corrosive, as it is added to industrial strength cleaners, engine degreasers, and other heavy commercial cleaners.

Propylene glycol: Manufacturers add this chemical to moisturizers and lotions because of the texture and stability that it adds to these products. This is in spite of the fact that this is a known carcinogen that has been linked to skin damage in humans.

Sodium fluoride: Fluoride is a neurotoxin that should have no place in your drinking water or beauty products. You’ll find sodium fluoride, a compound of this chemical, in a wide range of bath and body products.

Cocoamide DEA: The purpose of this chemical is to stabilize foam, such as that found in foaming soaps.

Mineral oil: Mineral oil is a petroleum byproduct that literally poisons your skin and prevents it from flushing out toxins.